Coastal Bend injury lawyers on the curiously hazardous stretch of Highway 73 near Labelle Road. You might remember the 79-vehicle pileup in January caused by a dense back of smoke and fog that sent several people to hospitals with injuries. News reports were filled with witness accounts of the horror of descending into sudden blackness, experiencing crashes with unseen objects, and hearing all the voices calling out in the dark in pain and distress.
Only a few short weeks after that dramatic pile-up, Highway 73 near Labelle Road experienced another sequence of catastrophic wrecks, one after another. Our Coastal Bend injury lawyers suspect that part of the blame for the wrecks probably lies with the week’s unusually wet and stormy weather. Yet part of the blame might lie with the speed of the vehicles traveling Highway 73 at that point.
3 of the wrecks occurred within an hour of each other. At least one of the wrecks resulted in fatal injury for a driver. And the normally quiet area has now seen 4 road fatalities within a week according to the Labelle-Fannett Volunteer Fire department Chief, Charles Sonnier.
Chief Sonnier, in an interview with Kiii TV3, said that he would like to see changes to Highway 73 in that area, especially with the increased traffic to and from Port Arthur. He cautions drivers for their own safety to watch their speed and obey set speed limits. Rescue crews echoed the sentiment, asking drivers to slow down and take care, particularly in inclement weather. The sense is that something is wrong with the highway and speed conditions in the area.
Our Coastal Bend injury lawyers note that TxDOT seems to indicate that drivers are to blame for the unusual numbers of injuries and wrecks on that stretch of Highway 73. TxDOT said that Highway 73 meets all the applicable safety requirements in terms of speed limits. TxDOT also pointed out that the highway also has a newer surface.
Our concerned Coastal Bend injury lawyers feel that the numbers speak for themselves. They indicate a troubling trend of increased injury and fatality accidents in the area. Somehow that stretch of Highway 73 presents an unusual hazard of crashes and injuries to drivers and their passengers. Whether the speed limit needs to be adjusted, the highway needs additional lanes to accommodate increased traffic from Port Arthur, or other changes need to occur, is a matter for traffic and safety experts.
If you’ve been injured on that stretch of Highway 73 and you have questions about who you could hold accountable for your injuries or what to do after a car accident, download our free book on the essential elements of a successful car accident injury claim. Learn the steps to a successful financial recovery following your car accident injury. The book is free to our readers. Just click and download.
Galveston injury attorneys note that a team from the U.S. CSB (Chemical Safety Board) is set to look into operations at Citgo’s Corpus Christi alkylation plant. Their presence at the Citgo plant relates to an accident involving release of HF (hydrofluoric acid), a potentially deadly compound, at that plant on Monday.
The Corpus Christi Citgo plant uses the HF in making high-octane gasoline blending substances. HF is highly toxic acid, corrosive, and known to produce fatal cardiac arrest reactions if absorbed in sufficient quantity through the skin. Our Galveston injury attorneys point out that, merely inhaled, HF can sear the linings of the lungs and cause extensive damage.
Citgo says that this week’s accident saw the release of only a minor amount of the acid, that no one was injured, and that the leak was contained by the use of powerful water cannons. The accident prompted the visit of federal safety officials in part because of a prior HF accident in July 2009 that was far more dramatic. In 2009, an explosion and fire resulted when a gas cloud of HF was released. The fire burned for several days, and critically injured two people.
During the first day of the response to this severe accident, Citgo used up almost all of its water mitigation system’s reserves and had to turn to pumping in salt water from the Gulf. But the salt-water transfer system began to falter as hoses ruptured and pump engines failed. The CSB responded by ordering Citgo to make improvements to its emergency water mitigation system and to perform 3rd-party audits on the safety of its HF units at Corpus.
The CSB said that Citgo had met the requirements it ordered in 2011. So this week’s release of HF gas is a concern. The United States contains around 50 aging refineries that use HF alkylation units. Residential neighborhoods and schools surround many of these, like the Citgo plant in Corpus. Our Galveston injury attorneys emphasize that as the infrastructure of these HF alkylation plants continues to age, the sudden release of clouds of toxic HF gas could pose a hazard to area residents and their children.
Win financial compensation for your chemical injury. If you’ve been injured in a work accident or because of a chemical release at a nearby plant, you might have questions about what you can do to claim fair recompense for the burdensome costs of your undeserved injury. Contact the Galveston injury attorneys at Denena & Points for a free legal consultation to discuss your accident. We could answer your questions about how to pursue your valid claim, and the legal options available to you in your quest for justice. Call us toll free at 877-307-9500 or use our online contact features to schedule your free consultation.
Texas truck accident attorneys note that a trucker is facing charges of criminally negligent homicide after he parked his truck in the fast lane of a Texas freeway and failed to put up any warning signals, resulting in a fatal crash. Andre J. Dixon parked his tractor-trailer in a southbound lane of Loop 410 near I-10 and failed to place reflective warning cones or other signals of the hazard around his stopped tractor-trailer.
Unable to perceive the hazard of the parker tractor trailer up ahead due to the lack of reflective cones or other signals, another tractor trailer slammed into the back of Dixon’s truck. Then a pickup truck following behind the second truck slammed into the rear of that semi. The driver of the second truck died at the scene of the wreck. The driver of the pickup truck suffered a broken leg and other injuries. Meanwhile, Dixon was strolling through the grassy median nearby. Our Texas truck accident attorneys point out that when police arrived at the scene, Dixon was finally placing reflective warning triangles around his now-wrecked tractor-trailer. The freeway was closed for several hours to investigate the wreck and clear the scene of the wreck.
The Texas truck accident attorneys at Denena & Points emphasize that Dixon violated bothfederal and Texas state transportation codes by failing to immediately place reflective warning signs around his stopped tractor-trailer or to move his stopped vehicle off of the freeway. Dixon’s act of stopping his big rig in a freeway fast lane with no warning signs was unreasonably hazardous to other motorists. Indeed, his negligence resulted in a fatal crash. Police said they don’t typically use the charge of criminally negligent homicide after a fatal motor vehicle accident, but that the particular circumstances of this crash warranted such a charge.
Our Texas truck accident attorneys mention that this fatal truck accident on Loop 410 well illustrates the high importance of placing warning signs around a stopped tractor-trailer. Federal and state statutes recognize the hazard posed by stopped trucks to other motorists. Many nighttime accidents and even a large proportion of daytime accidents result when other motorists either can’t see a stopped truck trailer pulled across their path, or can’t tell that the truck up ahead is stopped, until it’s too late.
In this chain reaction accident, it was another trucker who tragically lost his life to Dixon’s negligence. The maximum sentence for Dixon in a criminally negligent homicide charge is two years behind bars and a fine of $10,000. The sentence for the other trucker was life – the loss of it.
The grieving relatives of that second trucker who so needlessly lost his life to Dixon’s negligence need not be limited by the criminal charge. They could take Dixon and his employer to court in a civil suit to claim maximum financial compensation for their losses. Dixon’s employer might be liable for negligent hiring, negligent supervision, or negligent training (since it appears Dixon did not understand the critical importance of warning other motorists of the hazard posed by a big rig parked on a freeway fast lane).
No monetary award can ever replace the love and companionship of a lost family member. But it can hold a wrongdoer accountable for his actions. And it can bring some closure to the bereaved relatives and help them to cope with financial difficulties following the loss of a family breadwinner.
If you’ve been injured in an accident caused by a negligent truck driver and you have questions about your eligibility to pursue financial compensation for your losses, contact the experienced Texas truck accident attorneys at Denena & Points for a free legal consultation. Our free initial consultation/case evaluation could help you understand your legal options for pursuing your claim, obstacles you might face along the way, and your potential for financial recovery. Call us tool free at 877-307-9500, or use our convenient online contact features to schedule your free consultation. We only charge you attorney’s fees for your case if your win your claim.
Structural collapse attorneys note that a tower crane being used to build a new block of flats in Battersea, U.K. suddenly collapsed and crushed a man washing his car at his own home nearby. The collapse also pulled down a balcony on the occupied set of flats. The force of the 2006 collapse also killed the crane operator who was hurled out of the cab 165 feet to the ground.
An in-depth investigation followed the deadly tower crane accident. Investigators pinned the cause of the fatal crane collapse on use of the wrong operating manual. It turns out that the contractor at the site did not possess the manual governing use of the tower crane operating at the site. And the manual that the contractor did possess, for another type of crane, was missing several critical pages. So the contractor used 12.2 tons of concrete to balance the crane’s load, when that particular model of tower crane could only safely use 8 tons of concrete counterweights.
Our structural collapse attorneys point out that tower cranes like the one involved in the Battersea crane collapse use a series of rollers called a “slew ring” to control its motion through 360 degrees. The slew ring is fixed to the body of the crane with a series of 24 bolts. The bolts must be regularly inspected and their tightness adjusted periodically for the crane to operate safely. The stress on the bolts doubles for every additional 50% overloading of weight on the crane.
Over time, the tower crane that collapsed in Battersea suffered enormous stress due to overloading. Our structural collapse attorneys read that just two months before the collapse, 4 bolts had fractured and another 10 were found to have loosened. The bolts were unfortunately replaced using instructions for the wrong crane and from the wrong manual.
Then, on the day of the deadly crane collapse, when the 12.2 tons of concrete counterweights were added to the 8-ton capacity crane, the extra weight pulled the crane over backwards. It fell heavily over 165 feet to land in a crumpled heap. It took 4 days to extract from the wreckage the body of the man who had been innocently washing his car nearby.
In spite of the deadly toll taken by ignorance and negligence in this incident, the Crown Prosecutor found that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a criminal prosecution against the contractor. However, the absence of a criminal prosecution should not bar the victims’ surviving family members from filing civil claims to recover financial recompense if they wish to proceed.
Sometimes it’s the simple things that lie at the heart of the messiest accidents. A simple assumption that one crane manual was as good as another cost two men in Battersea their lives. If you’ve been injured or lost a loved one to negligence and you need to know if you’re eligible to proceed with a civil claim, feel free to contact our concerned structural collapse attorneys with your questions. We offer a free and confidential initial legal consultation/case evaluation that could help you understand your rights and available legal options for pursuing just financial compensation. You can reach us toll free at 877-307-9500 or use our online contact features to schedule your free consultation. And we won’t charge you attorneys’ fees unless you win your case.
Our Houston dump truck wreck lawyers have mentioned before that one of primary causes for accidents among dump trucks and garbage trucks is the accidental failure to lower the dump truck lift bed before driving off. Well, in Canada, media just reported a classic accident of this type that occurred on Thursday.
A dump truck was driving along with its lift bed still in the raised position when the raised bed became entangled in some overhead power lines. The truck became so tangled up in the power lines, that every time the driver and first responders tried to move the truck, the lift bed got pulled up even higher. The lines were wound so tightly about the truck that every time the driver took his foot off the brake pedal, the force would snap the truck backward into the waiting embrace of the power lines. The unusual lift by the wires put the truck in danger of turning over. So rescuers called for the utility company to cut power to lines in the area so that they could proceed with freeing the trapped truck and its driver.
Homes and businesses in the area lost power. The incident also damaged communications cables, including telephone and fiber optics lines. Fortunately, no serious injuries were reported from this dump truck accident. Our Houston dump truck lawyers note that the absence of injury might result in part from rescuers’ careful efforts to kill power to the affected lines and to keep the truck upright.
But the careless accident from driving with a raised lift bed has resulted in extensive physical damage to overhead cables in the area. The repairs and the cost of the emergency response will result in a heavy cost. Authorities are still investigating whether human error or mechanical failure caused the dump truck to be driving along with a raised lift bed.
This portrait of a classic dump truck reveals some of the extensive costs that can result from even the simplest failure to operate the truck properly. Many dump truck wrecks take a far higher toll. If you’ve been injured because of a truck accident, take a look at our Houston dump truck wreck lawyers’ book on the essential elements of a successful truck accident claim. It’s free to our readers; you can just click and download your free copy.
Our Houston backover accident lawyers point out that thousands of children (around 5,000 generally) under the age of 14 suffer injuries each year when vehicles run over them in driveways. More than 200 of these children die from their injuries. And most often it’s a relative or friend who must suffer the regret of accidentally hitting the child.
Safekids.org says that such backover accidents when vehicles run over young children in driveways take their greatest toll on the youngest children. More than half of the child victims of these accidents are age 5 or younger. All of these drive over accidents are preventable with sufficient driver precautions. But it’s often impractical, especially in crowded areas like apartment complex parking lots, to take sufficient safety measures.
One of the best solutions would be a backup camera in every vehicle. Backup cameras provide a clear view of everything that’s behind a vehicle as it backs up. Even tiny squirrels can be clearly seen if they’re within the vehicle’s backup zone. But automakers maintain that it’s too expensive to put one of these cameras in every vehicle. But our Houston backover accident lawyers question whether a child’s life and safety can be accurately quantified in automaker budget dollars.
It’s important to remember just how large a vehicle’s rear blind zones are when you back out of your parking space. One Consumer Reports study demonstrated that the largest passenger vehicle blind zone, 50 feet in length, could hide the presence of 62 young children behind the backing vehicle.
If your child has been injured in a backover accident and you have questions about who can be found responsible for the incident or if you’re eligible to recover for the terrible accident, contact our Houston backover accident lawyers for a free consultation. We have more than 12 years of experience helping injured victims to recover for the harm that’s disrupted their lives and peace of mind. Let us help you too. We could answer your pressing questions and help you understand what legal options you might have in the matter. Call today: 877-307-9500 (toll free) or use our online contact form at your convenience to schedule your free legal consultation/case evaluation.
Our carnival ride injury lawyers note that the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) is here again, and thousands of people will be enjoying the thrills and chills of the many exciting carnival rides. You might remember that last year, a man fell to his death in the closing hours of the HLSR from the Hi-Miler, a roller coaster operated by Ray Cammack Shows, The Hi-Miler won’t be back this year. It’s been replaced by another roller coaster due to lingering safety concerns.
There are good reasons for such concerns. The state of Texas only requires its inspectors to inspect carnival rides once a year. The inspector will check to make sure a ride is assembled properly, all safety restraints work, and that the ride operates as it should. If it passes inspection, he’ll affix his seal of approval to the ride. But our carnival ride injury lawyers caution you that the same ride might be assembled, disassembled, and moved many times by many people during the course of the year.
Ride supports could get stressed or cracked during a move. Safety restraints could wear out or develop other problems. Workers could miss properly tightening a bolt during an assembly. In short, all sorts of things could go wrong between the time the inspector checks out and approves the ride and the time you actually get on the ride.
Our carnival ride injury lawyers point out that no federal agency regulates portable carnival rides. The CPSC only investigates accidents after the fact, or helps ride manufacturers correct possible defects. And the Texas Department of Insurance disclaims responsibility for the safety of portable amusement rides even after the inspector’s seal of approval is in place. The Department’s website says that the Texas compliance sticker the inspector affixes to the ride is not, in fact, an endorsement of that ride’s safety.
What it basically comes down to is that if you ride a portable carnival ride in Texas, you’re taking your chances. If you’re injured on a faulty carnival ride, contact the experienced carnival ride injury lawyers at Denena & Points for a free consultation about your injury accident. We’re one of the few firms in the state with actual, practical experience handling carnival ride injury cases.
Don’t trust your case to someone without a successful track record on amusement ride injury claims. Contact Tony Denena & Chad Points. They know the laws affecting carnival rides, and they know how to overcome the complexities and challenges you face in making an injury claim. Let them help you win the full financial recovery you deserve from those whose negligence injured you. Call today: 877-307-9500.
Our Harris County crash injury lawyers recently discussed the use of rumble strips as a means of preventing deadly accidents, particularly the frequent accidents where one vehicle crosses over a centerline and impacts another head-on. We referenced NCHRP (National Cooperative Highway Research Program) Report 641 that claims that centerline rumble strips greatly reduce the numbers of fatal and injury accidents.
The Report says that urban fatal and injury head-on and opposite direction (centerline) sideswipe wrecks were reduced by an average of 64%, while such accidents in rural areas were reduced by an average of 44%. Rumble strips as a safety measure cost relatively little for taxpayers. If they are as effective as claimed, they represent an effective safety measure that should be implemented more often in Texas.
Our Harris County crash injury lawyers note that many Texas roadways, even rural highways, are two-lane roads with nothing but a (sometimes faintly) painted centerline to separate them. News reports are filled with reports of fatal and injury head-on and sideswipe crashes caused when one vehicle veers over a centerline. Driver fatigue, distraction, and drunkenness are often to blame.
It may be that nothing could prevent the crashes caused by drunken drivers. But distracted and fatigued drivers might well be awakened in time to correct their courses once the noise and vibration from rumble strips invaded their vehicles.
Thursday night in NE Harris County at FM 1942 near Stables Lane, an eastbound pickup truck crossed the centerline and fatally impacted a motorcycle traveling in the opposite direction. The biker was fatally thrown 30 feet into a roadside ditch. The pickup also struck a car traveling behind the motorcycle. Harris County deputies are investigating whether alcohol was a factor in the fatal crash. If not, we wonder if rumble strips might have helped avert the accident.
Learn how to make a successful injury accident claim if you or a loved one suffers a serious crash. Download our Harris County crash injury lawyers’ book on the crucial steps to take following a motorcycle accident. It’s free to our readers. Just click and download it from our website.
Houston tire tread separation attorneys mention that most tires consist of many layers of tire rubber and other materials alternating with layers of steel. Steel itself does not bond with rubber, so the metal belts might be coated with a material like brass that will bond. But the same properties that ensure that the coating material bonds with the rubber also might lead it to degrade relatively rapidly. And manufacturing defects might create inherent weaknesses in the tire and the bonds between its many layers of materials. A tire tread separation accident might have several distinct stages.
Tire tread separations, also sometimes called tread belt detachments or tire de-laminations, sometimes give warning of their approach through a vibration or shake in the tire as if it has gone flat. But an outward examination of the tire will likely show nothing wrong.
A driver will suddenly head a loud bang and the vehicle might start shaking. The tread layers have peeled off of the tire, and the wheel is now trying to operate with just the tire’s air bladder and sidewalls for support. The peeled off treads start slamming at high speed into the vehicle’s undercarriage, exterior, wheel wheels, and sometimes even the windows. People who’ve experienced a tire tread separation say that it sounds like machine gun fire. And the force of the peeled off treads striking the vehicle might even break the windows.
With the tire tread detached from the tire, the wheel is trying to operate on the tire’s air bladder or side walls, which weren’t designed for contact with the road and can’t support the weight of the vehicle on their own. Our Houston tire tread separation attorneys caution that the affected wheel starts to turn more slowly while the other wheels continue to revolve at high speed. This causes the car to skid and deviate from its intended direction as the balance between the wheels is lost.
The vehicle might slide into a crash. Turning or braking strongly to try and control the vehicle after the tire tread separates could exaggerate the vehicle’s slide and turn it into a catastrophic rollover accident.
If you’re injured in a crash or a rollover after a Houston tire tread separation, you might face a sudden accumulation of medical bills, expenses, and losses from the accident. When you can show that your injuries are the result of a tire defect, you have a legal right to sue the manufacturer for the value of your accident losses. But tire tread separation cases are complex and require highly technical proof. You almost certainly need the help of an experienced Houston tire tread separation attorney and the qualified expert technical witnesses he could help you locate in order to win your case.
Contact the experienced Houston tire tread separation attorneys at Denena & Points when you need aggressive legal help after an accident caused by a tire defect. We’ve been successfully helping clients to win their highly technical tire defect claims against stubborn manufacturers for more than a decade. We could help you too. Call today: 877-307-9500. Or use our convenient online contact form to schedule your free consultation.
Our Houston Jones Act lawyers point out that back when the Jones Act was passed, being a seaman aboard a commercial vessel was one of the most dangerous occupations in the U.S. The intent of the Act was to ensure that ship owners abided by their historical duty to provide Maintenance and Cure to the ill or injured seamen who served their vessels.
Under the Jones Act, “Maintenance” is the compensation that covers the daily cost of the food and shelter that the seaman would receive while working aboard the vessel. This relatively small sum might be as little as $20 per day, and generally not more than $50 per day.
“Cure” is the cost of the medical treatment, hospital stay, doctors’ and nurses’ charges, therapies, medications, and medical equipment required to get the ill or injured seaman fully recovered (or as recovered as is possible in the context of his illness or injury). In other words, when the seaman reaches the state of maximum medical improvement that can be expected, “Cure” payments by the ship owner can stop. Cure is by far the more expensive part of the “Maintenance and Cure” duty.
Naturally profit-conscious ship owners have sought to limit the amount and duration of their “Cure” payouts. And litigation over the extent of the required “Cure” has resulted in the standard of “maximum cure” or “maximum medical improvement.” What this means to the injured or ill seaman is that generally, when medical professionals determine that a condition is permanent or incurable, or basically cannot improve any further because the seaman has reached his state of maximum medical improvement, the ship owner’s duty of Maintenance and Cure ends.
As you might notice, this “maximum medical improvement” rule could leave a grievously ill or injured seaman in the lurch after a certain point. But our Houston Jones Act lawyers emphasize that determining the true extent of a seaman’s injuries and actual prospects for further improvement can be challenging. Different medical professionals might have quite different opinions on the matter. Ensuring that the ship owner complies with legal obligations under the Jones Act could require the aggressive and knowledgeable assistance of a Houston Jones Act lawyer.
If you’re an injured seaman and the owner of the vessel you served is trying to weasel out of legal obligations by insisting that you’ve received your maximum cure, contact our Houston Jones Act lawyers for some maximum legal intervention. Our in-depth knowledge and practical skill regarding the issues surrounding a ship owner’s obligations under the Jones Act could be instrumental in helping you to obtain the full Maintenance and Cure compensation to which you’re entitled by your illness or injury. Call us today toll free at 877-307-9500 or use our online contact form to schedule your free consultation.